403 Forbidden

(Updated at 1 a.m.: West Mayor's comments and concerns of shifting winds with threat of toxins in the air.)

(Updated at 12:10 a.m. following midnight press conference with D.L. Wilson of Dept. of Public Safety)

(Updated at 10:50 p.m. with death toll)

West, Texas, EMS Director Dr. George Smith said as many as 60 or 70 people died and hundreds injured Wednesday night when a fertilizer plant exploded in the small community near Waco, Texas, according to KWTX.

The explosion measured a 2.1 magnitude seismic event.

At midnight, D.L. Wilson of the Dept. of Public Safety said in a press conference "he could not confirm or deny that."

However, Wilson did confirm fatalities, but would would not give a number, saying "it could go up by the minute." He estimated the number of injured to be "over 100."

The explosion took place around 7:50 p.m.

Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton of the Waco Police Department re-iterated at a 2 a.m. press briefing from the command center that officials were still evacuating homes and finding injured people.

"I can confirm that firefighters may be unaccounted for," said Swanton, who would not give a number of known fatalities.

KWTX reports seven nursing home patients, as of 2 a.m., were unaccounted for, and six firemen were lost in the explosion.

Reported live earlier, but learned 4 cars we've been live next to, belong to firefighters still missing. Told chief one of those injured.

Wilson said 50 to 75 houses were damaged, along with a an apartment complex.

Wilson said he walked through some of the devastated area.

"Just like Iraq," he said. "Just like the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City."

Officials will continue a door-to-door search throughout the night, and all injured found have been moved from the area.

"We've got a lot of people who are hurt, and there's a lot of people, I'm sure, who aren't gonna be here tomorrow," West Mayor Tommy Muska told reporters. "We're gonna search for everybody. We're gonna make sure everybody's accounted for. That's the most important thing right now."

Muska, who is also a volunteer firefighter, said residents were urged to remain indoors because of the threat of new explosions or toxic exposure of anhydrous ammonia, which could pose a danger if the winds shift.

South winds are expected to change directions and come in from the north as a front moves into the area in the early hours of Thursday, which could expand the evacuation zones.

Gayle Scarbrough, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety in Waco, told television station KWTX that troopers have been transporting the injured to hospitals in their patrol cars. She said six helicopters were also en route.

Glenn Robinson, CEO of Hillcrest Hospital, told CNN his facility has received roughly 60 patients as of 10 p.m., many seriously injured. He said several of the injuries have been "typical of blast injuries, orthopedic injuries and large wounds. There are a lot of lacerations and lot of cuts."

He said a triage has been set up on site.

A hotline (254-202-1100) has already been set up for those looking for loved ones.

Authorities, according to the Morning News, were asking residents to evacuate, and there were reports of "dozens of people injured, including residents of a nearby nursing home."

Crystal Anthony said she and her daughter were “knocked back” by the blast as they stood blocks away from the plant.

“A nearby nursing home is really bad; there’s an apartment complex and … [West Middle School] that caught fire,” she told the Waco Tribune-Herald. “We’ve been moving patients out of the nursing home and taking them to the football field and gymnastics building.”

People as far away as 50 miles away reported feeling what seemed like an earthquake, according to reports.

“The fertilizer plant down here exploded,” Jason Shelton, a clerk at the Czech Best Western Hotel in West, told the Dallas paper. “It was a small fire and then water got sprayed the ammonia nitrate, and it exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb.

“I live about a thousand feet from it and it blew my screen door off and my back windows,” Shelton said. “There’s houses leveled that were right next to it. We've got people injured and possibly dead.”

West firefighters had gone to the plant earlier in the evening after a fire rekindled, according to KWTX.